The present invention relates to apparatus for the removal of particulate material from a gas, particularly combustible particulate material, for example carbon and hydrocarbon particles from the exhaust gas of a diesel engine.
There is increasing interest in the efficient and effective limitation of emission of particulate material, generally carbon and hydrocarbon particles, from the exhaust gases of diesel engines and devices have been proposed for this purpose which generally comprise a filter mounted in the diesel engine exhaust system and in which the carbon particles are trapped. However, presently proposed filters become blocked very rapidly so that it is necessary to intermittently remove the carbon particles from the filter during operation of the diesel engine. It has been proposed to effect this by intermittently heating up gases entering the filter to a temperature at which the carbon particles will combust, generally by providing a heat source upstream of the filter which is activated intermittently.